This is a quick reminder that this Saturday evening, May 19th, is the Artist for Sale art opening at Phoenix Trades Depot. Three of my pieces are in the gallery for the next two weeks, and my services will be auctioned off at the opening.

Here is some information about the show:

In an attempt to change the way we host art shows and the way attendees interact with the art they see, the Phoenix Trades Depot is pleased to announce…

Artist for Sale

A Group Art Show and an Auction of Artists’ Services and Personalities

Opening May 19th 6p -10p

This show will consist of works from several artists, but will also include a real-time, live (and online) auction of the artists, themselves. The auction is a tool to instigate genuine interaction between creators and their patrons, create a deeper understanding of where their art comes from, and allow people to walk away with some incredibly cool art, services, and experiences.

Please come hang out and see some amazing art!

New experiences, new techniques, and a better eye.

Previous pictures that depicted trees always turned out quite unrealistically. I could see too much detail in the trees and the entire thing became confusing. For reference, check out this forest image from last year.

The key, which makes this one better but not quite realistic, turns out to require increasing depth. I did it this time by making the raised railroad tracks darker. At first, they and the tree kind of blended together, but with some work I was able to somewhat separate them. It turns out that contrast, in addition to focus, is a significant indicator of depth.

This photograph, “Tree and Railroad, 2011-12″, is copywritten by Savanni D’Gerinel and is available under a Creative Commons, By Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike license. If you liked this picture, please tell a friend about it, link to it from Facebook, Tweet about it, or add my weblog to your feed reader. I specialize in High Dynamic Range photography and gladly take requests. You can also license my work for commercial purposes or commission me for custom work. Just send me an email.

So, finally, today I did it. With caveats.

• I kept my camera, computer, and bed unpacked.
• I share my kitchen with two other people. I do not wish to try unravelling what belongs to me and what belongs to them.
• The furniture in the rest of the house basically belongs to or with the house. I can’t take any of it to my tiny house.
• I’ve already emptied out every room except my bedroom, so this was the logical last step.
• I already have my decorations where I want them, so I felt no need to take them down.

How about some comparison photos?

Before

After

Thoughts

This is Calcination in its finest, final (but still reversable) glory. The final burning away of that Which Is Not Necessary Or Beautiful (in the material realm).

Calcination is a root chakra transformation of Fear into Confidence. By burning away all which is not part of the true self (in this case, by discarding all of the objects that distract me more than they enhance my life), I learn what is ephemeral and what is permanent. I gain confidence in what is permanent and realize that I can, in fact, live without the ephemeral.

I have burned since 2007, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, but always I have burned. Even if I finish this physically, I still have many emotional and mental processes to burn away. And even if finished all of the burning, if I burned perfectly, this covers only a single chakra. Each chakra requires a significantly different process, and each one still deserves my attention.

Unpacking

I expect at least some unpacking. After all… my clothing, my altar, and some of my favorite toys are down there in crates. I imagine things will come back out in about this order:

• Clothing — one item at a time
• Altar
• Levitation wands and poi
• ???

I have no idea what comes after that. I actually cannot remember much of what went into the boxes that I took downstairs today.

Conclusions

I did this in an extreme way because I felt guided to do this. This process will help to kickstart the next stage of my evolution. The next stage may involve a few more steps towards minimalism, but the end approaches. I think I will, very soon, find my most natural equilibrium with the material world, and I will stay there when I reach it.

Frequently I wish that I had a partner who shares my passions for cycling, minimalism, and consciousness. I have not found one, but I will continue looking. Perhaps the right partner cannot appear until I have fully emobied the minimalism I preach.

Either way, I have gained even more freedom than I had before, and boy do I have a lot of people to thank for it.

• Tammy and Logan of RowdyKittens
• Josh and Ryan of The Minimalists
• Ev Bogue of Ev Bogue (Although, I stopped reading him when he stopped doing Far Beyond the Stars)
• Leo Babauta of Zen Habits and Mnmlist
• Kristine, who does not have a website but who has been the only minimalist in my life for a long time
• Vasa, who also does not have a website, but who showed me what it is like to live in a space as small as an RV

• Meet at Mellow Johnny’s / Juan Pelota at 6pm
• Roll out at 6:45pm
• Helmets and lights required

Next Monday night, the Biking Bettys will be leading a ride meant to teach commuter safety. I have a prior commitment that I cannot skip, but otherwise I would be out there on this ride myself. If you have any interest whatsover in becoming a commuter cyclist, I strongly recommend this ride! Besides… I’m betting it would be fun!

Let’s play with light! In this shot, I really like all of the reflections inside the prism. I also love the textures in the wood stand.

Doing HDR on bokeh usually creates an effect which annoys me. In most photographs it makes a dirty background where the saturated or even overexposed areas get severely oversaturated, but in this case I like how it texturizes the background.

This photograph, “Prism, 2012-04″, is copywritten by Savanni D’Gerinel and is available under a Creative Commons, By Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike license. If you liked this picture, please tell a friend about it, link to it from Facebook, Tweet about it, or add my weblog to your feed reader. I specialize in High Dynamic Range photography and gladly take requests. You can also license my work for commercial purposes or commission me for custom work. Just send me an email.

A little less interesting than most of my posts, but I still enjoyed this shot.

This photograph, “Well of Light, 2012-04″, is copywritten by Savanni D’Gerinel and is available under a Creative Commons, By Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike license. If you liked this picture, please tell a friend about it, link to it from Facebook, Tweet about it, or add my weblog to your feed reader. I specialize in High Dynamic Range photography and gladly take requests. You can also license my work for commercial purposes or commission me for custom work. Just send me an email.

I have been accepted into an art show at the Phoenix Trades Depot on May 19th. I will attend the opening, obviously, and I hope to make some new friends out there. I would also love to see some of my existing friends there, and maybe even a few extra people whom I haven’t seen in years!

Here is some information about the show:

In an attempt to change the way we host art shows and the way attendees interact with the art they see, the Phoenix Trades Depot is pleased to announce…

Artist for Sale

A Group Art Show and an Auction of Artists’ Services and Personalities

Opening May 19th 6p -10p

This show will consist of works from several artists, but will also include a real-time, live (and online) auction of the artists, themselves. The auction is a tool to instigate genuine interaction between creators and their patrons, create a deeper understanding of where their art comes from, and allow people to walk away with some incredibly cool art, services, and experiences.

I do not know most of the artists in the show, but I do know my friend Q. L. Crow. I have one of her paintings hanging on my wall, so I love that she also will be displaying her work there.

And, finally, I present the description for what I am offering for the show and my bio:

Savanni will be offering a private photo session which will generate up to three landscape, building, and/or still life photographs. The subject will be a scene of the buyer’s choosing, within legal limits, and within one hour drive time of downtown Austin. One photograph will be delivered printed and matted, and the remaining photographs will be delivered in digital form. The buyer will be able to direct photography during the photo session, choose the final photograph from the shots taken, and has the option of sitting with Savanni during processing.

Minimum bid of $200

Artist Bio: Androgynous Genderqueer, Software Developer, Enthusiastic HDR Photographer, Relentlessly Pragmatic Cyclist, Solo Polyamorist, Minimalist, Alchemist. I use my camera to open my eyes to the wonder around me and then to share fantastic vistas with other people. When I can get away from work during daylight hours, I cycle through Austin searching for my next subject and I post the results to my website, “To Dream of Magick”. I live in southwest Austin with a few awesome housemates of both the human and feline species.

Even fixies. ^__^

When this month rolls around every year, I go to a great deal of effort to focus on bicycle transportation. I’m a relentlessly pragmatic cyclist, but I believe very strongly in the bicycle as a mode of transporatation. So, like last year, I shall do that again. In April, I drove approximately 400 miles and biked 275. This month I want to invert that, biking more miles than I drive. I think I can.

I offer several services to south Austinites based on the skills I have developed over the years:

• A series of articles detailing the gear that you need for on-road non-sport cycling. I shall start publishing the series on Monday, May 7th.
• Help with basic bike maintenance and adjustments. I’m not skilled enough to do anything big with somebody else’s bike, but I can do minor things and send you to the shop for the rest.
• A riding buddy. If you just want somebody to hang out with on a ride, I can be available. If you want help getting comfortable sharing the ride with traffic, I can help out on that, too.
• Bicycling-related photography. I am not sure what this would be, but if you have an idea I am available. Simple fun things I can offer for free, and for more complex or involved events I can work up a price scale.

But, bike month is not all about me. The city of Austin is putting together a variety of events that could be of interest to you. I am putting together a Google calendar that shows the big events, the things that I think would be most interesting to casual cyclists, but here are the highlights that I know of:

I’m going to attend several of these events. You’ll see me out there walking a recumbent and pointing my camera at just about everything I can see. I really hope to meet a lot of new people who are as passionate about cycling as I am, especially at Viva Streets Austin.

Here is my Google Calendar. It is public, so you can subscribe to it with your software, but it will also be visible right here on my website until the month is over. I will update it and this article as new events come up that I want to highlight.

For additional events, check out these links:

• Celebrate Bike Month with Bicycle Sports Shop
• Viva Streets Austin

It was all just play, but I got some photos that I rather like, including a fantastic new portrait of my friendliest cat. I added all of the photos to my Stream, but for your viewing pleasure I present Mr. Washburn below.

Where better for a Chandelier than hanging from a tree in a heavily forested area? Especially an older wrought iron chandelier.

This photograph, “Chandelier, 2012-04″, is copywritten by Savanni D’Gerinel and is available under a Creative Commons, By Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike license. If you liked this picture, please tell a friend about it, link to it from Facebook, Tweet about it, or add my weblog to your feed reader. I specialize in High Dynamic Range photography and gladly take requests. You can also license my work for commercial purposes or commission me for custom work. Just send me an email.